International journal of paleopathology最新文献

Objective: This study examines the radiological and dry bone manifestations of diagnosed leukemia in a child who lived prior to the advent of modern cancer treatment.

Materials: The skeleton of a 9-year-old girl who died of myeloid leukemia in Lisbon, Portugal in the 1940s.

Methods: Lesions were identified and documented through macroscopic analysis. Selected skeletal elements were imaged using radiography, mammography, and computed tomography.

Results: Osteolytic lesions were observed on the petrous portion, humerus, ilia, ischia, pubis, sacrum, tibiae, femora, and humeri. New bone formation was observed at the margins of osteolytic lesions on some bones including both ilia. Diffuse porosity on the frontal bone, the palate, several vertebrae, and the tarsals was also noted.

Conclusions: The lesions present in the child, both osteolytic and porotic, as well as new bone formation, are consistent with the clinically known radiological and dry bone effects of childhood leukemia.

Significance: This case is one of the few examples of potentially diagnosed childhood leukemia with observable dry bone lesions prior to the modern era of cancer treatment and can serve as a reference for diagnosis of suspected cases in the archaeological record.

Limitations: While the cause of death was documented as myeloid leukemia, it is possible that the medical diagnosis was incorrect.

Suggestions for future research: Further research using confirmed dry bone cases of leukemia and the environmental and societal factors potentially associated with the disease in the past.

Objective: This study investigates the role of the immunological landscape of the ancient Americas in relation to tuberculosis infection. Specifically, we aim to determine the relative frequency of genetic polymorphisms associated with susceptibility and resistance to tuberculosis in ancient individuals.

Methods: We conducted a bibliographic review of tuberculosis and curated single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the disease in present-day human populations. Using BCFtools, we analyzed ancient DNA data from 223 Native American individuals to identify curated genomic variants.

Results: Our findings show a predominance of single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with tuberculosis susceptibility in ancient Native American populations.

Conclusions: The results indicate that genomic variants associated with susceptibility and resistance to tuberculosis were already present in ancient Native American populations, suggesting that genetic factors influenced mortality following the introduction of more virulent strains during European colonization.

Significance: This study provides insights into the prevalence of tuberculosis-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms among ancient American individuals before European colonization.

Limitations: The variants considered are associated with contemporary TB, and it is uncertain whether they were associated with TB in the past. Suggestions for further research: Our findings underscore the need for future studies on the origins and spread of tuberculosis and the selective pressures the disease may have exerted on human populations in the Americas before and after European contact.

Objective: The controversial nature of Fisher's exact test (FET) in contingency table analysis is well-known in most disciplines. Our purpose is to outline the major difficulties with the test that underlie debates over its use as an alternative to chi-square for sparsely populated contingency tables; to assess their implications for the use of FET in palaeopathology; and to suggest possible alternatives.

Methods: Review of FET in the statistical and applied statistical literature, together with consideration of the circumstances under which FET is customarily used in palaeopathology.

Results: Palaeopathology data likely violate the fixed marginals assumption of FET. The extent to which this militates against its use is a matter of debate, but we note that analytical approaches more congruent with the nature of palaeopathology research designs have been developed in the 90 years since Fisher proposed his test.

Conclusions: Chi-square is more robust to contingency table sparseness than is commonly realised. When it is countermanded, approaches such as Monte Carlo simulation may be more appropriate than FET.

Significance: FET is widely used in palaeopathology. Alternative approaches, for which we provide R scripts, may be preferable, and may help to provide increased rigour in statistical analysis in palaeopathology.

Limitations: The extent to which violation of the fixed marginals assumption of FET militates against its use has long been debated, and we do not provide a definitive solution to this for palaeopathology, but instead limit ourselves to describing the problem and suggesting alternatives.

Suggestions for further work: We hope our paper serves as a stimulus for wider discussion of statistical methods within palaeopathology, a field that currently lacks an extensive applied statistical literature.

Objective: To assess pathological lesions observed in an Early Iron Age (8th-century BCE) horse to gain insight into equine use and management in the past.

Materials: The study is based on a nearly complete adult horse skeleton recovered from a pit at an archaeological site near Chirpan, Thracian Valley, southern Bulgaria. The assemblage is radiocarbon dated to the 8th century BCE and represents one of the few well-documented Early Iron Age equine skeletons from Bulgaria.

Methods: Preserved skeletal elements were examined macroscopically following standard zooarchaeological and palaeopathological protocols. Selected pathological elements were analysed using radiography and computed tomography (CT). Age, sex, and withers height were estimated using osteological and dental criteria.

Results: The individual was identified as an adult mare with an estimated withers height of approximately 133 cm. Pathological changes include pronounced dental attrition affecting the upper and lower premolars, degenerative alterations of the thoracic vertebrae and associated ribs, and periosteal proliferation at the proximal phalanges.

Conclusions: The anatomical distribution of the lesions indicates prolonged and repetitive mechanical loading. Dental wear patterns are consistent with bit use, while vertebral and phalangeal changes suggest sustained labour related to draught and load-bearing activities.

Significance: Early Iron Age equine remains are rare across the Balkan Peninsula. This study provides rare palaeopathological evidence for early horse exploitation in southeastern Europe.

Limitations: Poor preservation of the skull limits assessment of cranial trauma.

Suggestions for further research: Further palaeopathological studies of Early Iron Age horses are needed to refine interpretations.

Objective: Porous cranial lesions (PCLs)-cribra orbitalia and cribra cranii-are frequently observed in human skeletal remains. This article aims to review how PCLs have been interpreted over time and to challenge oversimplistic associations while proposing a more comprehensive and integrative framework for their analysis in line with recent bioarcheological perspectives.

Methods: A critical literature review of theoretical and empirical studies on PCLs was conducted.

Results: This analysis highlights the limitations of interpreting PCLs either as "nonspecific stress indicators" or a marker of anemia, without differential diagnosis. Recent research has expanded the range of potential etiologies, emphasizing the need to consider environmental and living conditions.

Significance: It is proposed that PCLs should be interpreted through a life course perspective, situating individuals and/or groups within their sociocultural and environmental contexts, in line with the ONE Paleopathology approach. Such perspectives not only refine diagnostic accuracy but also deepen our understanding of the complex interplay between biology, environment, and culture in shaping health and disease of past populations.

Limitations: The discussion is primarily conceptual and reliant on published data; empirical validation through new imaging and biomolecular studies is necessary. The limited availability of cross-species and longitudinal data constrains definitive conclusions.

Suggestions for further research: Future studies should apply CT and micro-CT analyses to both human and non-human, explore longitudinal clinical data, and integrate paleogenetic and environmental information to clarify PCLs etiology.